Jackson Junior 02: Threads
by drgemini86
Summary: Sequel to Jackson Junior: I’m Right Here, and prequel to Jackson Junior. Set initially in Reckoning Part II, as the fates of two of the most important men in her life hang in limbo, Sam comes to a decision. Meanwhile, Daniel wants answers. SD UST, SJ UST
1. RepliCarter's Ship

**Jackson Junior: Threads, by DrGemini86**

_**Summary: **__Sequel to Jackson Junior: I'm Right Here, and prequel to Jackson Junior. Set initially in Reckoning Part II, as the fates of two of the most important men in her life hang in limbo, Sam comes to a decision. Meanwhile, Daniel presses Oma for the truth but in true Oma-fashion, she doesn't deliver.  
__**Pairings: **__SamDaniel UST, one-sided SamJack UST, JackKerry  
__**Rating: **__T  
__**Spoilers: **__the Movie, and seasons 1-8_

_**A/N: **__Any similarity between this and Amaranth Traces' Ouroboros is unintentional, but by all means read that for a really cool SamDaniel version of the events from Reckoning to Moebius – it'll blow your socks off. Moebius is done so well by Amaranth that I didn't have the heart to do it here. : ) Anyway, had to write this instalment of the Jackson Junior story after reading the transcript for Threads and coming across that part of the oh-so infamous flag-scene (or rather the prelude to it), where Daniel's disembodied voice says that he didn't pause the base's self-destruct… The idea that the Others finally pulled their collective finger out and did something kind of fits in with what's now the sixth story in this series (Commanders) where we get to see these ever elusive Others (plus a few surprises). Anyhow, this story fills out something from near the end of Jackson Junior, and in Commanders too._

Like I'm Right Here, this fills in the gaps in the canon, and quite possibly runs away with the story. I just feel that, in this chapter especially, Daniel would have tried a little more to reason with RepliCarter (even if he doesn't succeed) but because of the action-packed nature of the two-parter, there wasn't time for it on screen.

_--------------------_

Coming face-to-face with _her_ was just about the most terrifying thing that Daniel Jackson had ever done. It was funny, in a way, considering that his life hadn't exactly been the Wonder Years to begin with, or even close, what with the death of his parents at a very young age, his being abandoned to the potentially treacherous minefield that was the US Foster Care system during the seventies by his career-centric Grandpa, and a fairly roughshod life through the education system albeit at a quicker pace than most others before being laughed out of academia because of his supposedly outlandish and implausible theories.

And, especially after he had had more than a half of a bottle of Jack's 'special brew', anyone who had the slightest shred of sanity was wise not to get him started about his manifold and multiform misfortunes after opening the Stargate… let's see, he had lost his wife and brother-in-law after _stupidly_ opening the 'gate again and _then_ leaving them alone while he had had the time of his life explaining his theories to his new friends. Oh, and then while he was searching for said wife, he had allowed himself to be… _violated_ by Sha're's new albeit unwanted and undesired mother-in-law, and if he hadn't already learnt his lesson, he had got engaged after stupidly getting addicted to a Sarcophagus and nearly blowing Jack's brains out during his withdrawal phase… yah, that was a barrel of laughs… nearly killing someone who was a brother to him. Oh… oh, and then what happened when…

Yeesh, he had to stop beating himself up whilst that was being done for him by _her_. So… back to where he had been initially… RepliCarter was, ironically, the most terrifying thing that he had ever encountered. The fact that she was a cold, brutal killing machine with designs to dominating the galaxy and beyond was second to the fact that she looked and sounded exactly like… _her._

Yet again, the woman he loved had been compromised by the enemy, but this time, it wasn't a Goa'uld or even a mesh of extraterrestrial digital circuits, but a Replicator facsimile of his beloved, whose creator had raped her of her likeness and memories, and given them to this… this copy, this evil, twisted fruitcake of a Terminator…

Oh, how ironic. Terminator. Hadn't he watched that with her the night before the mission to act as observers aboard Bra'tac's ship? Life was one cruel, sick, twisted weirdo with a well-known video streaming account sometimes.

She was using Sam to get to him, using her likeness, her voice and her memories to lull him into a false sense of security. His Sam wasn't evil nor was she a megalomaniac. This woman… this _thing _was nothing like her at all, because Sam had inner beauty whilst _this_ was a cheap facsimile. Sam was everything that RepliCarter wasn't and could never hope nor wish to be – beautiful, kind, caring, human, and a true friend. How could this… wrench claim to be like her, even in the smallest iota?

His priority now was for his friends to triumph, even if it meant laying down his life… again. There was nothing that he could do about the likelihood of getting off the Replicator ship alive, but he could delay what could very well be the inevitable – RepliCarter getting hold of the Superweapon. To destroy one Sam, he had to help the other, the real one.

In a similar manner to her predecessor, RepliCarter, having not made any headway with her shockingly precise Oma impression, stabbed him in the head and pillaged his mind, raping it for lack of a better term to gain the knowledge that she _knew_ was there, the knowledge that could make or break the galaxy.

He was going to die anyway so what was the point of holding back? As she pushed into his mind, he pushed back, looking for a way to give his friends the upper hand. What he saw on the way shocked him – a jumble, a mass of memories, some that he recognised, some that he worked out, and others that he hadn't a clue about. All of that was mixed in with cold, dark and metallic inhumanity and delusions of grandeur which filled the gaps and suffocated the relatively small human part of her psyche.

This _definitely_ wasn't Sam… as if that was in question.

He forced himself to focus as he hoped at the back of his mind that the crazy machine lady hadn't found anything of interest in _his_ mind, and he concentrated on helping his friends, to give them a fighting chance. _She_, panicking despite her lack of humanity, tried to pull way but he wasn't going to let her get away that easily, not when he had just found a way to get the upper hand in this mismatched confrontation.

Only, it wasn't as easy as Ferretti's emailed satirical How-to Guides on SG field operations would have made out had one been concocted by the head of SG-2 for this very situation. Daniel idly reminded himself to inspire the Colonel with 'How to anger a Replicator double of your Best Friend and Secret Love', naturally omitting the last three words unless he wanted to lose her again, as well as earning Jack's fists of fury.

He struggled and she gloated, knowing that he wasn't strong enough to handle controlling so many Replicators, tallying to mind boggling numbers far exceeding that of rats in the continental United States... how ironic.

"You're weak, just like _her_, and the idea that you prefer her is laughable at the very least. You humans are pathetic creatures."

Straining as he began to lose the struggle, he shot back through gritted teeth, his head feeling worse than the morning after trying Jack's moonshine, "If anyone is pathetic, it's you… You're not Sam, you're not even human."

She narrowed her eyes menacingly as she replied in cold fury as their surroundings changed dramatically into the dark, cold environs of a Replicator ship from the relatively peaceful replica of the Vis Uban tent, "I am Samantha Carter. I share her memories, her hopes, her dreams. All humans desire power. Do you still not believe that she desires this, the power to rule, the power to do whatever she pleases and not be subservient to anyone? To have her abilities rewarded instead of smothered or accredited to someone else? My dear Archaeologist, I am Samantha Carter, whether you wish to believe it or not, and believe me now when I say that she would like nothing more than to escape the shackles of her dull life and to be free among the stars to rule supreme."

"Yeah, right."

She stepped towards him, purpose in her step as he found himself held by Replicator blocks, the man scared at the way that she sounded exactly like Sam and looked like her to boot, and she continued, her voice softer, "You can free yourself too, Daniel. Rule by my side, and together we will rule the Universe… you can have everything that you have dreamt of this past year, something that that weak human is too scared to give you… I can give you everything."

Dang, she knew how to pull his strings.

He straightened up, saying as he remembered his friends, one in particular, and he said, his voice hoarse with barely suppressed emotion, "No."

She raised an eyebrow at him in the same way that Sam did when Jack had done or said something stupider than usual (which was saying something), and she said, looking sceptical, "No?"

"That's what I said."

"Well, that's too bad, Daniel… you are very cute and with that Ancient knowledge in your head…"

Louder and a little more violently than before, he interrupted her, saying, "No! I will not be your… your Consort. I will _not_ help you to destroy and oppress. The Sam that I know wouldn't do that. Look inside yourself – you have her memories and…"

Cold fury intensifying, she shot back, "The Samantha Carter that you know is weak."

Almost stamping his foot, he threw his arms down and said, "No! No, she isn't! She's the strongest woman, no, person that I know! Come on, you have her memories, you know what she's been through, what she's capable of, what…"

"She desires power, the ability to control her destiny yet she is too scared to attain it, therefore she is weak. Fear is weakness. I have no fear, therefore I am strong."

"You're nuts."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, each knowing that death could soon be involved, and she said, "You are weak too, Daniel Jackson. You have a great many fears… Join me, and your fears will mean nothing compared to the vast territories you could rule over with me at your side."

As the Replicator blocks holding him retracted, releasing him, he stepped forward, looking at her, a mixture of disbelief and incredulity on his face, and she raised an eyebrow briefly as if to say 'very well' in reply to his 'hell no'. Her arm morphed into a knife, which made him inwardly blanch and make a mental note never to watch Terminator again if he found someway to survive this, which didn't look likely at the moment.

With a grim, knowing albeit slight smile on her face, she plunged the cold metal into his stomach, taking a grim, inhuman satisfaction in watching him die.

As the sharp, all-consuming pain in his stomach began to fade, life ebbing away from him, his last thought was of Sam, the real McCoy, and he hoped that he had given her and the rest of his friends a good chance against the metal scourge.

RepliCarter's satisfaction was cut short as she and her surroundings suddenly found themselves permanently disassembled in the cold vacuum of Space, scattered across eternity with no hope of reassembly.


	2. Paternal Approval, and Secrets

Having come home victorious against the Replicators, Sam was reminded time and time again that she had a wedding to plan for, regardless of interstellar emergencies and intergalactic politics. The problem, or rather a problem was that she didn't feel up to it. She had lost one of her team, and as CO of that certain three-man team, as well as best friend to the missing 'one', she felt sick to the stomach. Yet, the pressure was there to carry on despite Daniel being out there, who knows where. Jack didn't want to discuss the possibility that the Archaeologist may have been aboard the ship of her Replicator double, which was just as well because that was certainly something that she herself didn't want to contemplate for so many reasons.

So, while dealing with her painful loss, that was all-consuming, she had to deal with Pete as well as the possible repercussions of the Jaffa having control of a powerful several million year old superweapon. She wasn't sure what it was but as the wedding grew closer, she felt more and more like it was a bad idea, but each time she thought that, she reminded herself that she was forty and this could be her last chance. Still, despite her confusing use of logic, she felt uncomfortable with the idea of marrying... or perhaps it was whom she was marrying as opposed to the concept itself.

She winced right the way through Pete's first meeting with her father, Jacob, the Cop fumbling as Jacob didn't know what to make of the whole thing.

'_She's happy Sel. I suppose that's important here.'_

Selmak, weakened in the past few days, replied quietly, _'Jacob, perhaps you should look more closely at Samantha. She appears tense.'_

'_Ah, she's nervous, that's all. You ok in there, buddy?'_

'_Yes, I will live... If she was happy, we would have become acquainted with this man long ago.'_

'_What's your verdict?'_

Selmak replied after a beat, _'I prefer Daniel Jackson.'_

'_Ah... me too but you know, those two are blind, and well, Danny's not here right now.'_

'_That is a shame.'_

'_I do believe that our Jaffa friend would say 'indeed.''_

Afterwards, Jacob hadn't said much to her about Pete, except saying that he seemed nice, and this frustrated Sam. As they sat together in the Commissary, Sam, nervous, pressed him for more, hoping that she had earned her father's approval in agreeing to marry the Cop. He didn't want to lie to her about how he felt, so he told her grudgingly that all that mattered was how happy Pete made her.

'_You are deliberately being elusive, Jacob.'_

'_Would you rather I broke her heart by telling her the guy's an ass? I've seen Prisoners of War who haven't seen the light of day for forty years with more charisma than that guy has in their little fingers.'_

'_If you inform her of your disapproval, perhaps she will forgo her engagement and wait for Daniel Jackson.'_

'_Like that's going to happen! Have you any idea how much of a stubborn mule that girl is?'_

'_Like you?'_

'_Funny, Sel.'_

'_I do believe Samantha is expecting you to say something.'_

Snapping back to the outside world, Jacob said, feeling too under the weather to smirk but smirking inwardly, "Selmak really liked him."

'_Jacob, what lies you tell...'_

Surprised, Sam asked with a hint of disappointment and scepticism, "Selmak?"

"Yeah, and he's a great judge of character."

'_If I was not so weak, I would, how you say, streak the corridors of this base whilst you are sleeping.'_

Despite his decreasing level of health, it took nearly everything he had not to laugh out loud then and there at the remark. His tiredness catching up with him, he said to his daughter,

"Look, Sam, I'm tired... It's been a long day; I think I'll turn in early."

Worried and knowing all too well how stubborn her father was, she asked, "You sure nothing else is wrong?"

'_Perhaps you should tell her Jacob. She will be greatly upset if we die without informing her that we already knew that the end is coming.'_

'_She's got enough on her plate, Sel... Danny's still out there, she's engaged to a twit, and... can you think of anything else?'_

'_Not without slipping into one more coma, and I do not advise it.'_

'_Right.'_

To Sam Jacob said, "Yeah. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight."

Sam watched her father leave, worried that he was hiding something, something pretty big, and she closed her eyes briefly, fighting back tears as the pain of Daniel's loss resurfaced as she wondered whether her father was being too polite, for lack of a better term, to voice his true opinion about Pete.


	3. Diner

Daniel, still surprised to find himself _not_ dead, sat in an Ascended version of the diner Nick had taken him to shortly after his parent's funeral, thirty-two years ago. Why the Ascended would bother to recreate something like that, especially from his mind, was another thing... perhaps a topic to bring up with Jack one day when they were both soused and wouldn't remember what they had said the next day.

Well, at least he wasn't naked.

As he pondered why he was there, Oma, dressed as a waitress complete with notebook, approached him, and the poor man thought that perhaps he was in some crazy version of the Gamekeeper's machine again, which would really suck, especially if it started recreating his parents' death again. _That_ was something he didn't want to relive _once_, never mind the umpteen times he had been forced to watch it with Sam six years ago.

Clearing his suddenly dry throat, the flabbergasted Archaeologist asked as Oma raised an eyebrow at him, amused, "Oma?"

"One and the same, hon. Now are ya gonna order?"

Just then an obese suit wearing man with a rapidly receding grey hair, yelled abruptly in Oma's direction, "Hey!"

Both Oma and Daniel turned to look at him, the latter in surprise, and the man continued in pretty much the same tone, "What do I have to do to get some more coffee round here?"

As if telling him to go forth and multiply, Oma replied casually before returning her attention to Daniel, "Find your enlightenment."

Oma's expectant stare getting to him quiet a bit, Daniel asked, "Menus?"

"We don't need them here, just order what you like."

Daniel, in true form, remarked, "Ok... then I'll have the truth with a side order of clarity, please."

Oma, sighing inwardly, said, "The replicator version of Sam was in your head trying to access the knowledge buried in your subconscious. But you gained control of her instead. She killed you to stop you, and because you refused her charming offer. That's where I stepped in. How's that?"

Exhaling, Daniel nodded, replying as the memories of RepliCarter came back, "Pretty clear."

A few moments later as the sight of Oma before him sunk in, he said, "So, I'm ascended again."

"Not exactly. Sort of a stop along the way. You have to make that choice for yourself."

--------------------

After Oma had left to do whatever she had to do (he seriously doubted that the place even had a kitchen or a Frank to man said kitchen), Daniel was left to his own devices, and as he looked around himself at his still surreal surroundings, the fat man from before approached him, now jovial as he said, holding a newspaper as he pointed at him,

"Hey, I know you."

Surprised, and admittedly sceptical after witnessing the man's rude behaviour, Daniel said, "Really."

"Yeah, the guy from the paper. Doctor Daniel Jackson."

As the man showed him his newspaper, revealing the headline 'Jackson still Undecided,' Daniel got an uneasy feeling. There was something odd about the man but he couldn't quite place his finger on it, yet his instinct was flaring up. The man let him keep the paper and Daniel, much to his consternation, read a headline about Anubis planning to retake Dakara.

--------------------

When Oma returned, Daniel confronted the Ancient with the paper, asking her if she knew anything, but she was deliberately being elusive, knowing that there were limits to what she could tell him. After a few more disappearing acts, Daniel managed to get her to sit down, hoping to get more answers out of her after being told that he couldn't escape from the diner through the door as he would effectively be dead, which was something, given the current state of affairs in the Milky Way, he couldn't have happening to him, not when he could give his friends advanced warning of Anubis' plans.

When she was finally seated, he asked her about why she had stopped him from killing Anubis the last time. She looked at him wistfully and replied, remembering the real reason why he had been cast down,

"Because if I didn't stop you, the Others would have. And they wouldn't have been so nice about it."

Nice, right... like being cast down onto foreign planets sans clothes and memories was nice...on this plane of existence, maybe.

After she had explained that she was supposed to completely erase his memories but didn't, he asked why it was ok to break some rules and not others. As he asked her that, the fat man from before entered the diner, making Daniel wonder how long he had been sat there. The fat guy, holding another newspaper, whistled as he made his way to counter, Oma looking at him uneasily.

"Look, if you knew I had a problem following the rules the last time, why offer me ascension again?"

Shortly before hurriedly returning to 'work' as the man ordered coffee, she told Daniel that she toed the line with regard to helping people to ascend, and crossed it a few times with dire repercussions, although she didn't elaborate on what those repercussions were.

"My point is, you just need to be willing to put your prior human existence into the proper context."

He sighed as she left, presumably to give the fat man coffee or enlightenment, and when she passed by his table a few minutes later, he stopped her again and forced her to sit down as she looked increasingly worried.

"Oma, I want some answers. Whether you're willing to give those answers is another thing... I get that you can't... or won't tell me about the thing with Anubis, but I've got another thing I hope that you can answer... I've been having dreams..."

Inwardly panicking, Oma interrupted him, saying, "I'm no dream interpreter, hon."

He rolled his eyes and said through clenched teeth, "Will you just listen!?"

She waited for him to speak, and he continued with a little nod, "Thank you. Now, I've been having these dreams on-and-off since I came back the last time. Something big happened last time and I don't mean Anubis... there was something far bigger and..."

Looking panicked at the still whistling fat man, she said in a hushed voice, "Daniel, I've got to go..."

"Nope, not before you..."

With a little more violence than was necessary, she said, "No! Not now Daniel. Really."

She met his eyes and a thousand words seem to pass between them, a silent understanding that somehow left the Archaeologist with the feeling that he shouldn't say any more on the subject for fear of some great catastrophe, although quite what, he didn't know.

She left him again, trying not to out-and-out panic. Pre-evolved human, my foot, she thought.


	4. The Dream House, and Jack's House

Sam, meanwhile, still had the feeling that things were going too fast. Pete had driven her somewhere for a surprise, and as she closed her eyes, as instructed, her feelings that this was all wrong grew more and more. It had to be more than cold feet. To calm herself, she tried picturing her wedding day, picturing herself in her flowing dress, her longish hair swept up, and then she gasped quietly in surprise when her groom turned to reveal a pair of round-rimmed glasses framing the bluest eyes that she had ever seen.

Oh boy.

Sensing something was up, Pete glanced at her from the driving seat, asking, "You ok?"

"Me? I'm fine."

"You gasped."

"I did?"

"Yep."

Sighing silently, she replied, hoping that it sounded casual, "Pot hole... and did I ever mention that I hate having my eyes closed?"

Smiling slightly, he said, "Oh yeah, ten minutes ago."

He pulled up outside of a house with a 'For Sale' sign, and he said, looking at her as he slapped his thighs, "Right, we're here."

"I gathered that."

"Right..."

Grimacing, she opened the door and he got out, going to her side to help her out before telling her that she could finally open her eyes. She opened her eyes and was shocked to discover that they were standing in front of a house, a house that she vaguely recalled describing to him once.

Oh boy, indeed.

She felt more and more sick as he excitedly pointed out things, finding her speechlessness funny, and when he mentioned the dog, she suddenly thought of Daniel's on-off fur allergy.

'Ok Samantha, you're a serving combat officer – you can do this... it's just a house, and it's on Earth so there's no jinxes if you say 'what could possibly go wrong?'.'

--------------------

After a tour of what was admittedly a beautiful and idyllic house, Pete rabbiting on a mile a minute about what they could do to improve the interior, she knew that she couldn't go through with it, and she needed advice... but who to turn to? She wanted to talk to her father but his recent bout of ill health worried her and she wondered how much more he could take.

Next, Teal'c. The big man was busy with defending Dakara with Bra'tac, so that left... Jack.

Sitting in his driveway, the tell-tale sign of a towering plume of black smoke letting half the state know that he was home, Sam went over her feelings. It wasn't that Pete was moving things too fast, although putting down a deposit for a house without so much as consulting her did cheese her off somewhat, but she just had this nagging feeling that it was all a huge mistake.

To be honest, she needed Daniel's sympathetic ear, but as she held onto the steering wheel with a vice-like grip, she bitterly recalled how her relationship with him had begun to slip during her time with Pete, how she hadn't talked to him much about her fiancé, even going so far as asking Jack about whether to accept the Cop's proposal.

What the hell had she been thinking!?

She sighed as the tears rolled down her cheeks as she contemplated Daniel being who-knows-where, and she silently prayed for him to come home again, to give her yet another chance to repair their friendship. The last time he had died, it even hurt to think the 'd-word', she had almost told him how she had felt about him but stopped herself on the grounds that it wasn't fair to burden him with feelings she suspected were unrequited.

And then after that hell of a year, she had contemplated telling him again as she sat on the mountain surface one night, but had once again dissuaded herself, convincing herself that he didn't return her feelings.

So now she was left feeling empty and needing her best friend when said best friend was now out there somewhere. He had to be somewhere, right? Come on, this couldn't be the last time, could it? The idea that it could be made her feel even more sick, and she hoped that they could do something about getting him home again instead of sitting around and listening to how the Jaffa situation was developing without him to work his magic.

She tried hard to think of the words to say to Jack, but came up empty each time. She knew of his feelings for her but she had long since realised that she didn't return those feelings, him having been a safety net of sorts for her. How could she tell him that she wasn't in love with him, or Pete, but with her best friend who was now quite possibly dead?

Whoa, hold up a second!

She groaned as she realised that she had admitted to herself that she wasn't in love with Pete, and she wept harder. How could she hurt so many people like that? She had genuinely believed that she was in love with Pete but recent events had led her to doubt those feelings, and whether they should even get married.

Drying her eyes, she decided to improvise as SG-1 had done on so many missions in the past when walking into unchartered territory or a conflict. Composing herself, she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she had known Jack for eight years now and that he qualified as a friend, distant as he tended to be with matters of the heart.

Getting out of the car after redoing her make-up, she purposefully made her way to the back of Jack's house where the man was cooking – or burning – pieces of meat that looked as though they had seen better days.

After an awkward moment, she decided to start at the beginning, "I've been sitting in your driveway for the last ten minutes, trying to work up the nerve to come and talk to you... The truth is I've been trying to work up the nerve for a lot longer than that."

Surprised and intrigued, Jack said, "Oh?"

She then told him that she was having second thoughts about the wedding, which baffled him, and he glanced back into the house, hoping that she wasn't going to declare that she loved him right now... especially not where his, uh, house guest could hear her.

Not noticing his awkwardness due to her own, she continued, "I'm sorry to bother you with this, but uh, see, there's actually a very good reason that I'm bothering you with this, and if I don't tell you now, I might never…"

She trailed off as Kerry Johnson, the CIA Agent assisting with the investigation into the Trust, emerged from the backdoor, saying, "Jack, I looked everywhere, but I could not fi…"

An even more awkward moment followed as Sam felt sad at her words that she had managed to dredge up regarding Jack would now go to waste as he had apparently moved on without telling her. Jack tried to keep the tension away but he wasn't successful and three of them stood there, not knowing what to say.

'Oh crap... how... why should I even tell him? As for Daniel... how I can I tell him in front of _her_?'

Kerry remarked, stating the obvious, "Well, this is awkward."

Sam shot back in true Jack fashion, "Ya think?"

As Jack waved a burnt sausage about, Kerry said with a shrug, "Well, you know, now that the cat's out of the bag, you're here, why don't you just stay? I'm sure there's enough charred meat on the grill for all three of us."

Just as Sam got an overwhelming urge to participate in a sprint to Atlantis, her mobile phone rang, thus reaffirming the cliché 'saved by the bell'. Quickly getting it from her belt as the other two watched, she answered it, quickly replied to what the other person was telling her before disconnecting and telling them as she looked worried,

"I've got to go... it's my Dad."

As she ran away, still getting the urges for an intergalactic sprint, Jack and Kerry exchanged another glance, but for a completely different reason than Sam had surmised for the awkwardness.


	5. Diner again

After being acquainted with the fat man, who he had discovered was called Jim, and was someone he had apparently been acquainted with during his time among the Ascended, Daniel went back to reading the newspaper Jim had given him, waiting for Oma to come back so that he could grill her.

She approached him and remarked, "Well, you can't stay here forever, you know. Actually, I suppose you could, I just don't know why you'd really want to. Except for the great service."

He retorted, gradually becoming more and more frustrated as she refilled his mug, "Look, obviously I don't want to just die. Don't suppose there's any other options?"

She sighed and said quickly before deciding to give him a hint to get out of his current predicament, "I can't get into it... What's stopping you from ascending?"

He replied, weary, "I don't know."

"Must be something holding you back, making you doubt yourself."

He closed his eyes and remembered Sam, remembering how he had never had the courage to tell her how he had felt but knowing all too tell that he didn't deserve her. Oma, knowing exactly what he was thinking about smiled slightly as he said,

"Maybe it's not me I'm doubting..."

The ever-present quiet roar of noises in her head subsided briefly and one voice came to the fore, saying, _'Whether to ascend or not, the choice has to be his and only his otherwise events in the lower plains will not work out how they should.'_

'_Do you not think that I am aware of that, Lilith? I know who he is, what he will become... he has to decipher this part of the puzzle for himself. I am but a guide.'_

Oma told him, with her characteristic serene expression returning, "Look, whether you choose to accept living on a higher plane of existence has nothing to do with me or anything that I can or can't tell you. It's all up to you."

"But there is something that you're not telling me."

Almost rolling her eyes in her forced casualness, she remarked, "Is that what Jim said? You shouldn't be listening to him."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Good answer."

"Yes."

Carefully eyeing Jim up from where she stood, she whispered so that only Daniel could hear, "Daniel Jackson, you are destined for greatness. The choice to ascend is your choice and yours alone."

Her words stunned him as she walked away, and he made a mental note that when he escaped this place, not to mix with Ascended beings again.


	6. Deathbed

Sam stood at Jacob's bedside, holding her father's hand as he gave her bad news after bad news regarding him and Selmak, and confirming her worst fears. He was going to die, they both were, and Selmak was barely hanging on. She wept as the news sunk in, and once again, he apologised,

"I'm sorry, kiddo... We really are."

After leaving his bedside briefly to receive confirmation from Walter that the Tok'ra had been notified and some wished to pay their respects, she returned, telling Jacob what had been said. She held his hand and said, tears pouring,

"I can't believe there's nothing they can do. They can remove a Goa'uld. In the last few years you've almost perfected the process of saving the host."

He replied weakly, inwardly proud of her resilience, "That process instantly kills the symbiote before it releases toxins. It's too late for that, Sam. I'm sorry. I hate to do this to you, but I should have been dead four years ago. Since then, I've been all over the galaxy. I've done things most men never dream of."

Out of the blue, he looked up at her and said, "I just want to know that you're going to be happy."

She nodded, tears still falling as she said, her voice wavering, "I am."

Mentally shaking his head in disbelief at her attitude, he said, not wanting to give her too much of a push in the right direction nor pressure her into something that she may not be ready yet, "Don't let rules stand in your way."

Confused, she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You joined the Air Force because of me..."

He continued mentally, _'If you weren't an Air Force officer, you wouldn't have been so scared to see Danny for who he really is.'_

She smiled through her tears, saying, "I love my job."

He reached up to touch her cheek, saying fondly, "You can still have everything you want."

She was confused. Had he worked out that she loved Daniel, or was he pushing her towards Jack? She didn't know but didn't want to ask, or make him more worried, so she said, trying hard to convince herself too, and failing,

"I do, Dad... really."

The Carters, unknown to each other, each thought to themselves, _'If you keep saying that, you might believe it.'_


	7. Diner Part III

Jim had given him enough clues before being thrown out of the diner, to imply that Oma had been tricked into ascending Anubis, despite, ordinarily, only beings pure of spirit being able to gain ascension. When Oma had returned, and this time sat opposite him, Daniel said, getting depressed,

"So, it's true."

Oma said defensively, "He tricked me."

She told him how the Others had stepped in after she had made the biggest mistake by ascending Anubis and couldn't fix it. The Others had warned Anubis that he couldn't use any of the knowledge or powers that he had gained as part of his Ascended state, and could only do things that he had been capable of as a Goa'uld. In short, the Milky Way was screwed, boned… and a whole plethora of colourful, and at times coarse terms.

He then surmised that the punishment for her crime was to watch, powerless as Anubis wreaked havoc. She told him that from this plain of existence, the Milky Way and its plain of existence was insignificant compared to the vastness of the rest of the Universe, which naturally angered the Archaeologist. She reminded him, a touch wearily that he had said that it was wrong during his Ascended year too.

Angry, Daniel confronted the Others, disguised as diners, and found that he couldn't touch the man that he had made to grab. Despite them appearing to ignore him, he shouted, knowing that someone somewhere must be listening,

"Okay, okay. Well, I know you can hear me. Hasn't she suffered enough already? Certainly, enough other people have suffered to punish her. Don't you think you made your point?"

Oma, reminded once again how anti-establishment the man in front of her was, said quietly, "That's the thing, Daniel. They don't. I keep breaking the same rule, helping people ascend. That's why you're here."

She then pretty much told him that Anubis was unstoppable, implying that his Jaffa-massacring rampage across the Milky Way in his quest for the Superweapon would succeed, and life as we know it would cease to exist, thus giving the ex-Goa'uld a chance to be god supreme; to start from the beginning and be Lord of all creation.

--------------------

After Jim had returned with another paper, and Oma had flippantly told him to get his own coffee, the big guy said with his usual joviality as he stepped behind the counter as Daniel idly wondered whether Frank had suddenly ceased to exist as Oma hadn't gone anywhere for a while,

"Ooh, hey Dannyboy, you see the paper?"

The paper having been placed down on counter, Daniel replied, a little aggravated at the man's persistence in talking to him as well as with the ongoing situation in the plain below, not forgetting the tabloid feel of the papers here, "No, what's it say?"

Practically shouting it from the roof-tops in a manner one would expect a businessman to announce a huge financial success, Jim said, "The trick worked. Those stupid Jaffa took half their ships to hunt down Anubis, meanwhile, his army was poised to attack Dakara. The remaining rebel Jaffa guarding Dakara are being slaughtered. It's only a matter of time before old Anubis gets his hands on the weapon."

Perturbed at Teal'c and his buddies being referred to as 'stupid', as well as worried for Teal'c and Bra'tac's welfare, Daniel blinked quickly in the way he did when he was being politely sarcastic, and he said, looking casually belligerent, "I'm sorry, you sound almost happy about that."

Looking as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, Jim asked, "Who, me?"

Frowning, Daniel said, his curiosity about this man and the entire situation getting the better of him, "Yeah. What do you have against Oma?"

Oma, scared, quietly made to interrupt him, "Daniel…"

But, in true Daniel-fashion, he wasn't having any of it as he persisted, "No, I want to know. I mean, you're not just watching, you're coming in here to rub it in. Why are you taking such pleasure in her punishment?"

Jim, still jolly, told him that he didn't have anything against Oma seeing as she helped him to ascend. And that was when it hit the Archaeologist. All this time, he had been in close quarters to none other than the very _rat-bastard…_

'_Thank you,__ Jack.'_

… that he had wanted to warn his friends about, and who they were battling against with no hope unless he could help them, because it was obvious that the Others wouldn't.

When Jim had wandered off, cheerful with his coffee, Daniel turned back to Oma and said, "There's nothing we can do, is there? My friends are the galaxy's greatest chance unless the Asgard choose to get involved, and I have to go back to warn them."

Shaking her head dejectedly, Oma asked as she propped her face up in her hands, "Daniel, what use would that be? You couldn't do anything, even with the knowledge that you have now. Your friends, I'm sure are aware of what Anubis is planning. What will you do?"

"I have to be there!"

Oma sighed, and Daniel asked, "Isn't there anything that you could do… blow him up or…?"

"I can't do that and you know very well that I can't… you may not remember but one of our highest laws forbids the taking of life… That's why you were cast down."

Daniel frowned and said, "But I didn't get to kill Anubis."

"It was nothing to do with Anubis or Abydos."

Surprised and intrigued, Daniel asked, "What was it?"

"I can't tell you. I can tell you that one day your journey will mean so much more than it does to you know."

"What?! My journey? Well, for starters, my journey means everything to me… My… my travels with SG-1… my…"

She gently shook her head to silence him, and she said with a wistful smile, "One day it's all going to be clear to you, but the time isn't now. You're not ready."

"I'm not ready?! What do I have to do, die again?!"


	8. Deathbed Part II

Sam sat in the Observation room, tears in her eyes as she watched her father's dying form in the Infirmary below, two Tok'ra paying their last respects to him. She briefly recalled sitting in the same place as Janet talked to her when Daniel's organs had been slowly liquefying because of his heroic act to save Kelowna. Now, Janet was gone in line of duty, Daniel too… and her father wasn't far off. Was she destined to lose everyone that she loved to the 'gate?

Jack, putting aside the incident at his house earlier, entered the room and sat down next to her, affected too by the impending loss of someone who had been so much more than an ally and a friend these past six years. And add to that that it was his second-in-command's father, the second-in-command in question being part of the most closely-knit combat team of all time, the man was like family to him.

Most of all, he needed her to keep it together. She was the last member of SG-1 on base. Teal'c was helping out the Jaffa, and Daniel was… no, Daniel was still around. Jack was convinced that his best friend was going to show up sooner or later – he always had and no doubt, always would. He was probably watching them right now.

Jack asked her, "You ok?"

Sam, tearful, nodded and said, "Actually, I'm fine. Good even, strange as that sounds. I thought I lost him _six_ years ago. Since then we've been closer then we ever were my whole life. In a way, Selmak gave me the father I never thought I'd know."

Jack was reminded by his on-off relationship with his own father, and how they had only made their peace a few years before the elder O'Neill had died of a heart attack, and he knew that she needed a shoulder to lean on, a hand to hold… some sort of human contact.

He put his arm around her and she held the hand that was now on her shoulder as she watched the scene below, hoping somehow that her father and Selmak would pull through this.

"Thank you Sir."

"For what?"

She replied as she remembered Daniel and how he would have been there for her, through hell and high water, as well as Teal'c, "For being here for me."

"Always."

One word had said so much. Jack had meant it. She had been his second-in-command on SG-1, one of the best soldiers he had ever served with, and one of his closest friends. No matter where life would take them, he would always be there for her, supporting her, rooting for her, just like he would for the rest of his team (after nearly a year of having his command of the base, he still had trouble relinquishing ownership of Earth's flagship planetary defence team, and quite rightly so).

Suddenly, one of the Tok'ra placed a hand on Jacob's shoulder as the ex-General's eyes closed and he looked up at the observation room, at Sam, signalling to her that it was time.

Shutting her eyes briefly, she dried her eyes as she quickly made her way to her father's bedside, Jack still watching from the observation room. She gently kissed her father's forehead as she held his hand, and he opened his eyes as he gazed up at her, knowing that the end was nigh, and he said quietly,

"I love you."

He closed his eyes for the last time, the monitor connected to his heart emitting a chilling flat-tone as Sam began to cry, having lost two of the biggest men in her life within the space of a week or so. One of the Tok'ra, having had a crash course in human affection, pulled her into his arms as she sobbed, overwhelmed with grief and sadness.

--------------------

Jacob, surprised, opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by an eternal whiteness. He remarked, exhaling as he looked around himself,

"So… _this_ is heaven?"

An oh-so familiar voice replied, "Actually, no… it's a higher plain of existence where time doesn't exist yet is mentioned frequently in cryptic metaphors."

Turning in disbelief, he saw Daniel, sans glasses, dressed in a hideous green shirt that he was sure would result in Sam dragging the guy along for an impromptu shopping trip, and he said, "Daniel?"

Daniel smiled briefly and said, "Yep…"

"You're not dead?"

Daniel shook his head, replying, "Nope, but it won't matter soon if things stay as they are."

"That doesn't sound promising."

"No it doesn't… I've got another surprise for you."

Raising an eyebrow, Jacob remarked, "_This_ is pretty big… You sure know how to spoil a girl, Danny."

Daniel, glancing down briefly, lifted a hand and from a white mist emerged an elderly woman dressed in a long earth-toned robe, who said with a little smile, "It is nice to see you after so long, Jacob."

Daniel watched, amused as Jacob's eyes widened in surprise as he walked around the woman, saying, "Sel?! What happened?"

"I chose Saroosh's form after spending so long with you."

Jacob grinned, remarking, "I'm that bad, huh?"

They both turned to Daniel, who said, looking wistful, "You shouldn't be here, but I've managed to pull a few strings with Oma."

The white mist around them began to glow in hues of white and golden yellow, the colours spinning around them, and Jacob asked, "Wait a sec, you've gone glowy on us again?"

Daniel shook his head and replied, gesturing to his shirt, "I'd be dressed in white or earth-tones if I was… this is symbolic in that I'm apparently inexperienced in matters here."

"Ah… so…"

Daniel grimaced and said, "Sorry, can't tell you anything… we must go separate ways from here."

As the glowing ring slowly morphed into two humanoid shapes, Jacob said, glancing at Selmak, "Will you be going back?"

Daniel sighed, saying, "It's complicated, Jacob. There are still things here that I need to do… There's things going on here that's… it's pretty bad."

"Got ya."

Selmak asked, "Would it have anything to with the current state of affairs within the galaxy?"

Daniel replied, grimacing, "Oh yeah."

The figures became recognisable as two women, one a dark haired woman with large dark eyes, the other a tall, dark-skinned woman with cropped black hair. Daniel said, glancing at the women as he clapped his hands,

"Ok… these here are Morgan Le Fay, and Lilith, traditional step-mother of mankind... They will take you where you want to go. You're not totally ascended yet… and I've got to go."

Selmak nudged Jacob, who, glancing at his former symbiote, said as Morgan and Lilith held his hands, noticing that Lilith's complexion changed to one of blonde hair and fair skin, "Daniel, before you go… I don't know if you're going to remember this, but you have to talk to Sam. She needs you. She's more stubborn than I am sometimes and I know she isn't happy with Pete."

Closing his eyes briefly, Daniel said quietly, "Jacob…"

"No, it's not me playing Daddy and fixing you up. She does need you. You've got my blessing."

Tears in his eyes despite being non-corporeal, Daniel nodded, overcome, and Lilith, her skin now a gentle golden yellow, her hair straight and dark, said, "It is time, Jacob Carter, and Selmak."

Daniel nodded, and Jacob, letting go of Lilith's hands, pulled the Archaeologist into a hug, neither man able to keep their eyes dry. After the hug, Daniel shook hands with Selmak, who said,

"It was honour to have known you, Daniel Jackson, and I am sure that Samantha and the rest of yours friends will be happy to see you."

"Thank you. I'm going to miss you."

Gazing at Jacob and Selmak one last time, Daniel stepped back as Lilith and Morgan began the Ascension process, instructing both candidates to close their eyes. As Jacob held Lilith's hands, he said, "Remember what I said, Daniel."

Daniel closed his eyes briefly before feeling as though he was being pulled somewhere. He closed his eyes again, and when he opened them, he found himself back in the diner, across the table from Oma, whose eyes were moist. She said with a little smile,

"That was an honourable thing that you asked me to do, Daniel. Earth's going to miss him."

Daniel nodded slightly, and Oma reached over, placing a hand over his as she said, noticing at his resigned nature, "Daniel…"

He met her gaze and said suddenly, "There is a way out, isn't there? There's always been one… You can make up for your mistake."

Raising an eyebrow at him, she remarked, "Why don't I like the sound of this?"

"You can't kill him and neither can _they_, but you can fight him. I don't remember very much from before but I think it's possible."

"Daniel… for a human, you never cease to amaze me."


	9. That Damn House again

Sam came home the day after Jacob's death, the Tok'ra having taken his body soon after the event, the Colonel fighting off Jack's repeated pleas to be driven home, and found, much to her surprise and annoyance, Pete sat in her lounge. She collapsed on the couch next to him, clutching a cushion to her chest as she sobbed into it. He, confused, attempted to hold her in his arms, but she violently moved away, still sobbing.

"Sam, what's wrong?"

Clutching the cushion tightly as she recalled how her father had looked on his deathbed as well as her last memory of Daniel before he was beamed off Bra'tac's ship, she said between sobs, her grief too much for one body to take, "He's gone… Dad's gone."

"Oh God, I'm sorry."

He pulled her reluctant form into his arms and said against her hair as he rested his cheek against it, "It's ok Sam."

She tensed in his arms and shot back, "How is it ok?! I lost Daniel, and now I've lost Dad. It hurts so much… I can't do this any more…"

"Well, what do you want me to say?! I am sorry that General Carter's gone, I really am. I liked him and his… um, thing."

She closed her eyes as her head rested on his shoulder, and she whispered as her sobs subsided, "Pete… I need some space."

"What, I'm holding you too tight? Sorry."

He let her go and she said, meeting his gaze, "No, I need some space… I'm not sure if I want to go through with this, and… I've been having doubts for weeks. I think I just need some time… I don't exactly have a conventional job."

Smiling sadly, he touched her cheek and said gently, "Hey, you take all the time you need, Sam… I got it."

--------------------

A couple of weeks later, after a memorial service held in honour of Jacob, Pete took Sam for a drive, once again pulling in front of their new house, which now had a 'Sold' sign in front of it. Sam asked, shocked as she sat frozen in the seat,

"You bought it?"

Pete nodded, smiling uncertainly now, and he replied, "Yeah, I figured that you needed some solidity after all the crap you've been through. Think of it as an early wedding gift from me to you."

Wincing, she got out of the car, and he followed suit after a moment's pause, and walked to the bench in the middle of the front lawn. He sat next to her and was about to put an arm around her but hesitated and then decided against it, instead choosing to rest his arm across the back of the bench.

She looked down at her hands for what appeared to be an eternity before she said, taking the ring off her finger, "I've been thinking these past weeks since Daniel… and then Dad, and… I can't go through with it… I'm so sorry."

Not looking at him as she closed her eyes to hold back her tears, she handed him his ring, and he took it, shocked despite expecting something like this given everything that she had been through. He sighed and she steeled herself, trying to ready herself for what was to come.

After a long silence, he said in a sad voice, "I knew from the beginning. Guess I just thought when you said yes that… that you were worth the risk. Don't say I deserve better. Can't get much better then you."

She shook her head, feeling two inches tall at that moment, and she said, "That's not true."

Thinking wrongly that it was because of Jack, he continued, "I wish I could believe this had something to do with your father. You needed some time to sort things out."

He looked at her, trying to meet her gaze but she was having trouble meeting his eyes, knowing that she had hurt him.

"I guess all I can say is, I hope you get what you want."

Surprised, she raised an eyebrow briefly and said, "That's it?"

Angry, he retorted, "What do you want? You want me to get down on my knees and beg?"

She, upset, replied as she noticed tears in his eyes which made her feel even more rotten, "God, no, of course not. It's just, I thought you would react differently."

Not wanting to hear any more, unable to be near her now without saying or doing something stupid, he gazed at her sadly as he said before standing, "Bye, Sam."

She tried to call him back, to apologise, to tell him that she had never meant to hurt him, but he walked away, dejectedly pulling off the 'Sold' sticker from the sign, to show the 'For Sale' sign once again. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched him get into his car and drive off, and she put her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

She looked up in surprise on feeling a hand on her shoulder to see none other than Jack there, who silently sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug as she sobbed her heart out, no words needing to be said.


	10. Superweapons

Standing next to the Superweapon on Dakara, his troops having overcome the Jaffa guarding it, Anubis, his face a rippling force-field to hold his semi-corporeal form in one place, held a small device in his gloved hand. As his First Prime, Her'ak knelt, awaiting and accepting his fate as part of his god's design, Anubis pressed a button, and a moment later, the face of one of his Jaffa appeared on a Goa'uld communication globe that hung suspended near him and he said, his arm folded across his chest in reverence,

"My Lord Anubis, the Chap'pa'ai has activated, and we have received word from the other ships that the Chap'pa'ai across the entire network have been activated."

Raising a hand in acknowledgement, Anubis replied before the image disappeared, "Very well."

Mentally grinning in satisfaction, Anubis pressed another button on his device before pressing a series of buttons on the console of the Superweapon. The weapon activated, beautiful yet deadly as rays of energy rose through the ceiling, its power gradually and exponentially growing as he awaited the hour when the galaxy would be rid of all those pesky Jaffa, humans and Asgard, and he would be able to start again.

--------------------

Up in that other plain of existence, Jim, still behind the counter, drank copious amounts of coffee, scornfully complimenting its quality before emerging from behind the counter after putting the coffeepot down.

With a little cheerful wave at Daniel and Oma, he remarked, "Well, got to go… it's been nice but business calls."

Daniel looked at Oma, trying to silently hint at what she should do but she remained seated, not sure whether she should do it. Exasperated, Daniel lunged at Jim but, as with the Others, he went right through him. Confused, he stopped and turned towards a gloating Jim.

"There's nothing that you can do. You don't have the power… hence the green shirt."

Oma straightened up, determined as she said quietly, "But I do."

Jim turned to her in surprise as she stood up, now dressed in a glowing white dress instead of her waitress garb after a flash of white light. The Others, not expecting this despite hearing Daniel's attempts at persuading her, turned to look at her in shock as Jim said, now beginning to get uneasy,

"You can't kill me either."

Her determination growing as Daniel watched, intrigued, she said, "I can fight you."

"Well, you can't win."

"It won't matter; you won't be able to do anything but fight me back."

Finding her peace and focus in atoning for her mistake, she stepped towards a now visibly scared Jim, just as a tendril of white light emerged from her hand, reaching Daniel's head. The Archaeologist flinched in surprise but soon looked confused for a moment before looking intrigued once again as he watched Oma continue her advance on Jim.

Jim screamed in protest right before she touched him, hands raised as were his, white light engulfing them. The light morphed into a large ball shape, crashing up through the ceiling, leaving behind a diner full of shocked Others, and one confused Archaeologist who wondered how he was going to get home.

--------------------

Meanwhile, back at the SGC, the 'gate having activated before they could dial out to the Alpha site, Jack and Sam had set the self-destruct after she had tried to explain that the self-destruct wouldn't work in stopping the weapon as the 'gate wouldn't be destroyed, the incoming beam from the Superweapon still, with all possibility, being able to destroy all life on Earth.

Resigned to their fate, they stayed in the Control room with Walter and Teal'c, watching and waiting, hoping that something would happen to save the day as no-one present preferred the alternative. The four of them, involuntarily and silently counted down the seconds they had left to live when the counter reached eight seconds.

Unknown to all present, a figure in glowing white robes appeared next to them, a figure that now had auburn hair and green eyes with fair skin, which soon changed to dark hair and tanned skin. As the self-destruct reached 1.30 seconds, she raised a hand, slowly moving her hand downwards over the display to see the self-destruct timer stop at 1.26 seconds. Meanwhile, her other hand had been raised towards the 'gate through the window and a pulse of white light shot from the palm of that hand, dissolving the event horizon, shutting the 'gate down.

With a little smile, her gaze lingering on Sam, she disappeared from view as Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Walter looked on in shock at what had apparently happened. Walter said, shocked,

"Wormhole disengaged."

Sam asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, it must be some kind of… system malfunction."

"That's impossible."

Jack, raising an eyebrow at her apparent lack of glee that they hadn't been blown to oblivion, ordered, "Shut it down."

Sam leant down to a keyboard, typing furiously as she said, "Aborting self-destruct."

The self-destruct aborted, Sam and Teal'c looked at Jack, who exhaled, knowing all too well how close they had come to not only being blown to smithereens, but to the rest of the planet being wiped out and ruled over by a crazy, over the top bad guy. After a beat, Jack pulled them both into hugs, which they quickly reciprocated, overwhelmed with relief too.


	11. Flag Scene

Daniel's surroundings soon turned to white, and the Others, now in their Lantaean forms, stood around him in a circle. Lilith stepped forward, her skin dark and her hair black and cropped, and she said,

"Farewell, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel gazed around at the assembled Ancients, and he said, "I gather I once knew you all."

Lilith replied, "You did indeed, and we remember you well."

Morgan stepped forward and said, smiling slightly, "You must return to continue your journey."

Daniel closed his eyes briefly and said, "Wait a second… there's something but I can't exactly remember it. Something big…"

The Others all now feigning innocence exchanged confused looks, and Lilith said, smiling, "It is nothing, Daniel Jackson… take my hands."

He slowly took her hands, saying, "I hope Oma's going to be ok."

He closed his eyes as a white light glowed around him, reflecting off the faces of the Others as he soon disappeared through their non-existent floor, and Lilith, her skin now a soft golden colour, her hair dark, looked around at her brethren with a knowing smile before they each converted into individual masses of white light, spiralling ever upwards into eternity.

--------------------

Daniel opened his eyes and found himself in very familiar surroundings. It dawned on him eventually that it was Jack's office and he was about to stride out when he glanced down and promptly blushed.

He was naked as the day he was born, and there wasn't anything he could use that Jack wouldn't burn afterwards, to cover himself up. Despite this, he could hear a conversation, what appeared to be a briefing through the open door, and he heard Sam's voice. He smiled as he closed his eyes, listening to the familiar sounds of her voice, reacquainting himself with it and feeling as though he had come home.

He then heard Teal'c say, "O'Neill believes that Daniel Jackson was somehow responsible."

Mentally kicking himself for speaking, Daniel called, grimacing, "Nope, it wasn't me."

Grimacing further as he imagined the various expressions of shock, he then heard Jack say, "Anybody else hear that?"

Daniel called, "I'm in here!"

"That's Daniel."

Sensing Jack's approach, Daniel concealed his manhood as best he could as he called, embarrassed, "Don't! Don't come in!"

Too late. He saw Jack rear in shock on seeing more than he had ever needed to see of his dead friend.

"Whoa! Hey there."

Jack reappeared with what appeared to be the briefing room flag which had been ripped from a pole, and an embarrassed beyond measure Daniel took it gratefully, wrapping it around his lower half. As a stunned Jack stood to one side, Daniel shuffled from the office, holding the flag tight around him for all that he was worth to the shocked expressions of Teal'c, Bra'tac and Sam, the latter turning away on realising that he was naked under the flag.

Bra'tac eventually smiled, always glad to see the Archaeologist and suspecting that he had had something to do with Anubis' sudden and unexpected demise. After Jack had finished awkwardly fiddling with the now empty flagpole, Daniel said, trying not to meet anyone's eyes, especially Sam's,

"It's, uh… it's a long story."

Jack hesitantly patted him on the shoulder, remarking with raised eyebrows, "I think we all get that."

Teal'c said, smiling, "It is good to see you again, DanielJackson."

Daniel nodded, and Sam, the weeks catching up with her, finally looked at him. She stood up and as he, still embarrassed, tried to move away, she said quietly,

"Keep holding the flag."

Confused, he looked at her before holding onto the flag tighter, and she pulled him into a tight hug, tears brimming in her eyes as she said in a shaky whisper, "It's good to have you back again, Daniel."

She gently kissed the nape of his neck as he closed his eyes, holding onto her with one arm as he replied, "It's good to be back… I've missed you…"

Jack, glancing at Teal'c and a still grinning Bra'tac, clapped his hands and said, "Ok folks, let's move… we've got to get naked descension boy down to the Infirmary."

Teal'c ran out to fetch some clothes for the Archaeologist as crowds of intrigued SGC personnel began to gather in the doorways of the briefing room, and he returned soon after with combat fatigues, handing them to a grateful Archaeologist who Jack helped back into his office.

A few minutes later, as Jack ordered a bemused Hazmat team to dispose of the flag which had been replaced, Daniel emerged from the office looking like his former self again, Teal'c having had the foresight to fetch his glasses too, and Jack remarked with a grin,

"That's more like it!"

His emotional walls falling down, he pulled the now surprised Archaeologist into a tight hug, saying with a grin, "Yeah, Space Monkey!"

Daniel, biting his lip to stop himself from crying, hugged Jack back, saying as his voice broke with emotion, "Jack."

Next, it was Teal'c's turn, and Daniel checked afterwards whether any of his ribs had been broken. With Jack and Sam's arms around his waist and shoulders, Daniel emerged into the corridor through the bustling crowds with Teal'c and Bra'tac bringing up the rear. Word had got out fast and hundreds of personnel had lined the way to the Infirmary, patting the Archaeologist on the back or greeting him in other ways as he blushed at the attention, his best friends grinning.

They paused outside the Infirmary before going in, and unseen to all, Jacob appeared in a creamy jumper and brown trousers as he looked at Sam and Daniel, and he said, unable to stop grinning,

"Even though it's going to be a while yet, you have my blessing, you little idiots."


	12. Comfort

After being thrown out of the Infirmary along with Teal'c and Bra'tac but for some reason, not Jack, Sam went to her lab, still brimming with excitement at Daniel showing up again, paced around her lab, grinning at first before sitting down for a moment as she reflected on the events of the past few weeks.

Looking down at the pale band of skin where her engagement ring had once been, she sighed, wondering whether she really had blown away her last chance. She sighed again and busied herself with some work, saving it to a disk as Bill popped his head in, saying,

"Sam, you didn't send me the results for the tests on the device from 232."

She held up the disk as she went to the door, saying as she reached the scientist, "Sorry, email server's down – I've got Jay and Chloe working on it. Here you go."

She handed him the disk and he smiled briefly, taking it as he thanked her, and she watched him go before returning to speculating at her lab table.

A voice pulled her out of her reverie, the owner of said voice a subject of her thoughts since he had disappeared,

"Hey."

She looked up to see him casually leaning in the doorway, looking at her concerned, and she smiled, saying quietly, "Hey."

He approached her after closing the door, pulling up a chair next to hers and sat down, saying as his eyes showed overwhelming sadness and compassion, "I'm sorry to hear about Jacob... and Pete."

She pressed her lips together in a vain attempt to prevent herself from crying as she closed her eyes and ducked her head, and he whispered, feeling guilty, "I'm sorry."

She shook her head and said, beginning to cry again, "I've missed you, Daniel... these weeks have been hell without you."

He gently pulled her into his arms, kissing her hair with equal tenderness as he rubbed her back in small circles, and he said, "I've missed you too..."

"Where were you?"

Not wanting to make her more upset, he grimaced a little before saying, "Oh, I'm sure you'll hear plenty about it later... Jack wants a briefing on it after I've, in his own words, stuffed myself stupid. Oh... and Siler managed to electrocute himself, so Jack's grinning and saying that all's right with me returning from the dead, and Siler managing to get injured at least three times a week."

She chuckled against his chest, sniffing back her tears as she held onto him, and he asked as he tenderly brush stray strands of hair from her face, "Do you want something to eat? I could use the sane company."

"Ooh, I don't know about sane."

She sat up, drying her eyes as he smiled slightly, not sure of everything that had happened up with Oma, other than the Anubis stuff which he was sure had been ingrained in his memory for all eternity, but he did know that his main reason for not being able to ascend had been her... Even if she didn't return his feelings, she would always bring him home.

Giving her a moment, he stood up as did she, and they walked to the door. Right before reaching the doorway, she stopped as did he, and she toyed with the idea of telling him how she felt.

"Daniel..."

Looking at her with concern, he said, "What is it?"

Deciding against telling him, she said instead before leaning over to kiss him on the cheek, "I'm glad you're home again."

He smiled, mentally albeit half-seriously reminding himself never to wash that cheek again, and he said as he gently touched her hair, "So am I."

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_Sequel in Jackson Junior. Yay! Thank you for reading this, and please review it – it's always nice to know what my readers think. : )_


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